Before I was married, I struggled to justify to myself a necessity for assistance. Because I was single and did not have any children, I felt I did not deserve to hire a housecleaner or any other support services. While it is probably common for individuals living alone to feel that they should be able to keep up with chores and tasks for a one-person household on their own, it is likely to be just as common for families to feel that housework and errands should be able to be divided among them without additional assistance.
Why are we so reluctant to recognize that there is often more to do than can be kept up with without assistance–whether we live alone or with numerous household members?
I recently found an article on CNBC entitled, “Everyone needs help during the coronavirus pandemic–here’s the psychological reason why asking for it is so hard.” The article references M. Nora Bouchard, author of Mayday! Asking for Help in Times of Need as pointing to assertions of independence, wanting to stay in control, and not wanting to be perceived as being “needy” as the primary psychological reasons why asking for help is so difficult for many of us.
A pandemic doesn’t necessarily make it easier. The above article quotes Bouchard as saying, “People are frustrated that they can’t give enough of themselves, but they feel stymied to a certain extent because they’re not allowed to leave their home.” One solution is to “create safer spaces for people to ask for help.” In business atmospheres, it is acceptable to delegate. Assembling a group of people for virtual “mayday roundtables” could be a method of creating a similar atmosphere to discuss with select people how assistance could be delegated.
In an article on medium.com, Dave Bailey discusses in “How to Delegate So Work Actually Gets Done” why he had to learn how to delegate. He realized that when he delegated tasks–the task would get done, but it would often get done in a way that did not help him with the overall problem. So instead of delegating tasks, he needed to delegate problems.
Another way to address these challenges–and the mindset that often accompanies them—would be to consider hiring a concierge for personal or business assistance. To start thinking about concierge services see our post, “How to Select a Personal or Corporate Concierge.”
We offer a complimentary 30-minute initial consultation. Call today to discuss how you could begin to delegate.
